Prosperity and Alcohol

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 465, 10 June 1890, Page 2

Prosperity and Alcohol

Mr Goscheu, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his recent Budget speech in the House of Commons, declared that the return of prosperity at Homo had resulted "in a universal rush to the beer barrel, the spirit bottle, and the wine decanter.’" “Everybody,” he said, " seemed bent on toasting the national prosperity and increasing the revenue. It was a circumstance that must bo deplored. A closer examination would not diminish the surprise; for the _ largest increase had been—of all the spirits ia the world—from rum. He had taken pains to discover who drank the rum. It was drunk mainly at seaports, The increase from rum had been 12 per cent.; from British spirits, 7 percept.; from wine, 10 per cent.; from beer, 4 per cant.; from brandy, 6 per cent. In the number of drams taksn 245,000,000; in 1889 275,000,000. It wasl» extraordinary histories! fact that in the years 1875 and 1876, tbe greatest drinklag years recorded, there was precisely the same rush and precisely the same proportion of revenue from different spirits. Increased prosperity, therefore, means a great increase in the consumption of alcoholic drinks."